In the article, Kopel summed up, very succinctly, an unavoidable truth about the rise of the Nazi Party, he wrote, “Simply put, if not for gun control, Hitler would not have been able to murder 21 million people.”

I thought to myself, what a very keen observation. I found the article by way of Wikipedia, circa 2008 (the article itself was published in 2003).

The point I’m making is that Mr. Kopel is known for fighting for gun rights both on the printed page and at the highest levels of government. Moreover, he argues in a very cerebral and convincing manner, i.e. no hyperbolic doomsday rhetoric, no histrionics, just the facts. In short, I’m a fan of his work.

So, now for the good news/bad news dilemma, which shall I go with first?

Okay, the good news is that Kopel has, along with three of his peers – Nick Johnson (Fordham), Michael O’Shea (Oklahoma City), George Mocsary (Connecticut), I believe they are all law professors – written a comprehensive 1,008-page textbook on the subject of gun laws.

The title of the book is, Firearms Law and the Second Amendment: Regulation, Rights and Policy and the proud authors are dubbing it the “first law school textbook on the Second Amendment.”

In addition to covering gun laws soup to nuts, the cool thing about this firearm law treatise is that it includes supplemental material, such as a podcast series, research guides, teacher’s manual, essay prompts for students and a communal forum in which one can ask questions.

These features can be found at the book’s website, which is still a work in progress (they’re hoping to have everything up and running by July).

I haven’t listened to any of the podcasts yet, but I plan on it. So far, there’s only three completed podcasts: “Chapter 3, The Colonies and the Revolution. Chapter 2, Antecedents of the Second Amendment: From Confucius to the British Whigs. Chapter 1, An introduction to firearms laws and firearms function.”

Okay, now for the bad news. Like all textbooks, it doesn’t come cheap. You can buy it on Amazon.com right now for the not-so nominal price of $168.47, plus shipping. Unless, of course, you’re a law professor, then you can get a free copy.

To read more about the book or to check out its detailed Table of Contents, click here. Also, here is a video of Kopel discussing his book at Fordham Law School (he begins speaking at 15:30)

After you’ve checked it out, let me know if you think it is it worth shelling out that much coin for the ‘preeminent’ law book on firearms.

If I understand it correctly, it's a textbook to educate law students about the subject of guns, gun rights, and the second amendment. I like anything that can get lawyers to better understand that gun owners are not criminals and should be treated fairly in the court system. That's something that seems to be happening less and less. I hope both law students and law professors read this textbook and remember it when they begin their law practice.